Saturday, June 02, 2012

Writer's Workspace with Donna Alward

Columnist Donna Alward is back to share her writing sanctuary!

My workspace is a delight.

Before we bought this house, my workspace was a 7x7 bit off
the living room. In it was a table with the fish tank on it (it had previously
been a child’s table and chairs for tea parties and other bits of girly
delights), a piano, and a toy bin. We had one desk and one computer – which I
shared with my husband. It was pretty
cramped in that little space. We lived on a busy street, and I didn’t
particularly like where we lived so I kept the blind next to my desk closed – I
wanted to shut out the outside world. But it worked. It could have been far
worse.

When we moved to this house there were enough rooms that I
could have an actual office.I have four
rather large windows – the one closest my desk looks out over our front yard:
grass, flower beds, and across the street nothing but trees. I have my own desk
and my own computer and my own chair! I have a filing cabinet and a bookcase
filled with reference books, copies of each of my books and a terrifying TBR.

My husband also has a desk, a computer, and a chair.

If you look at the pic of my desk, you’ll see some fun things that make it "mine". The silk flowers that my girls gave me one Mother’s Day to brighten my desk. A framed cover flat of my first ever Harlequin Romance, HIRED BY THE COWBOY. There’s a sign that says “A
Clean House is the Sign of a Broken Computer”, courtesy of my husband who has somewhat
made peace with the more “relaxed” state of our house since I got busier with
work. There’s an Angry Birds stuffed pig tucked in a cranny, several notebooks,
music CDs, and filing. My ereader is buried under slips of paper, my pen holder
almost never has pens but it does have earbuds, hair clips, and for some
reason, a plastic crochet hook.And to
the right of my monitor there is my current book I’m reading: Moonlight Cove by
Sherryl Woods and the handout outlines for a workshop I’m presenting on
Saturday.

I also have my husband’s chair which is nicer than mine,
because my back has been causing me a lot of grief this spring.

My dog’s crate is in here as well. She keeps me company most
days while I’m working. So does our cat. They like to be in the same room as
their mama, and I like it too.

And you know, after all that, there is STILL room for a
futon. It is my reading corner and the place I sit when I’m doing proofs of
manuscripts before they go to print. It makes a delightful extra bed, too.

I can’t think of a nicer place to work. And in the winter
when it’s a bit colder, I have an infrared heater in the corner that keeps me
toasty.